January 2013

Jan 25, 2013

Literacy isn’t just about reading
words on a page. The ability to read or write—even at a basic level—unlocks a
world of knowledge and understanding completely inaccessible without those
skills. Annie Ngombo knows this well, having learned to read and write fairly recently,
through an adult education series held by the University of Zambia.

Ms. Ngombo lives in a shanty town in
the Kafue distruct with her two young sons, both of whom attend primary
school nearby. The school is one of the first in Zambia to receive support from Room to Read’s Reading and Writing Instruction program, but before
a few months ago, Ms. Ngombo hadn’t thought much about it.

One day, she came home to overhear her 2nd
grade son, Kaimbo, reading out loud to himself from a newspaper. Slowly and
clearly, he was digesting the text word-by-word. Surprised by his advanced
skills, Ms. Ngombo asked Kaimbo to read another section from the paper, and was
pleasantly surprised when he accomplished the task with ease and near-perfect
accuracy.

Kaimbo’s remarkable progress made Ms. Ngombo wank to know more about her son’s schooling, so she decided to meet with his teacher. At
school, she learned that Kaimbo’s teacher had received training and materials
from Room to Read, including ongoing weekly support from a literacy
facilitator. The new Cinyanja-language lessons had been paying off, and many of
the students were making great progress.

Having witnessed the impact of our Reading and Writing
Instruction program with her own eyes, Ms. Ngombo decided to visit the local
Room to Read office to learn more. There, she saw a copy of the workbooks that
had been provided to students, which gave her an idea. As one of her
neighborhood’s few literate women, she would adapt the materials that helped
turn her son into such a confident reader into lessons for adults.

Ms. Ngombo’s adult literacy class started small, with
just one 34-year-old pupil who had never learned to read or write. After a
short time, the woman, who was only three quarters of the way through her first
workbook, was able to read simple texts with ease.

Encouraged by this early success, Ms. Ngombo expanded
her course to include ten other women in her community. Using a copy of Room to
Read’s three early reader workbooks in Cinyanja, she develops regular lessons
for the women, who all look forward to the day they can read independently and
send letters to family. Just like Kaimbo and his classmates, Ms. Ngombo’s
students are already making great progress.

Jan 18, 2013

In
the village, many people call Pamoxong “the little one,” in reference to her
height and slight frame, but friends say that the nickname is misleading given her big personality.

Now
13 years old, Pamoxong is in 7th grade and on her second year of support
from Room to Read’s Girls’ Education program. Formerly a shy, uncertain
student, she has enthusiastically joined all of the life skills training sessions provided by the program and says they have helped her find her voice.

“I
can now say out loud with confidence that I will get a full education so that I can become
the most capable female physician in my village,” she shares proudly. “It is
not only a dream; I will make it come true.”

According
to Pamoxong’s social mobilizer (mentor), Thiphavanh,
“her generous and active personality, smiling face and persuasive words are Pamoxong’s
most featured characteristics.” Since joining the program herself, the “little one”
has become a powerful advocate for girls’ education within her community.

Pamoxong’s
village in Oudomxay, Laos is populated primarily by Hmong people, an ethnic
minority in the country. For Pamoxong’s family, and many of their neighbors,
the barriers to education are even greater than for the rest of the country, as
many in the Hmong community cannot speak fluently in the Lao national language.

“Pamoxong
is a crucial motivator who helps us translate between Hmong and the Lao
language,” says Thiphavanh. “She convinces parents in the community to value education
and send their daughters to school."

Thiphavanh’s
sentiments are echoed by Padaiya, one of Pamoxong’s good friends. “When Room to
Read visited my house to meet my parents, Pamoxong was the real
behind-the-scenes lobbyist," says Padaiya. "She talked to me and my parents about the
opportunities I would get from joining the program.”

A
few months into the school year, Padaiya considered dropping out because of her
family’s financial situation, but once again Pamoxong was there to encourage
her friend to keep going. “I think I’m so lucky to be her friend,” says Padaiya with a
smile.

In
her own family, Pamoxong’s newfound commitment to education has had an incredible impact as
well. The third-born in a family of six
children, she has seen the consequences of a lack of education, as her older
sibling both dropped out of school to help earn money for the family.

Her father, Mr. Tong, says that after seeing his daughter succeed he is now committed 100 percent to keeping his other
children in school, too. “I will do the best to support them as high as they
dream to go,” he says.

Ms. Xia, Pamoxong’s mother, can only speak Hmong, but doesn’t let the language barrier stop
her from sharing her perspective through her daughter’s careful translations. “I
do not want my child to live like me, to work hard and barely understand Lao
language because I did not get chance to attend school,” she says. “My parents
told me that studying was not necessary for a girl—that it was a guy’s
business, but now everything has changed.”

With
newfound confidence, a clear path forward and the support of her family, it seems that this “little one” is poised to accomplish some very big things.

Jan 11, 2013

Sinothando doesn’t have a favorite book. He has
dozens. The sheer prospect of choosing just one makes him laugh, and he rattles
off a list: A Big Secret, Nkanishe, Books are Dear Friends, There
Would Be No House...and those are just the beginning.

Hearing Sinothando’s enthusiasm, it’s hard to imagine
the bright 5th grader as anything other than a confident, capable reader, but
as he explained to our team, that wasn’t always the case.

Sinothando lives with his grandmother in a squatter
camp in South Africa’s Eastern Cape, meaning he must walk 10 kilometers to
school each day. His grandmother is illiterate and the only source of income
for she and her three grandchildren is a monthly stipend from the government
that does not even cover the family’s most basic needs.

“Before Room to Read
built a library for us,” says Sinothando. “I
was very shy because I could not read and I used to get very frustrated in
class as I could not answer a single question.” He is now a fluent reader, and
is proud of how far he’s come.

“My regular
visits to the library have helped tremendously,” he says. “I have improved my pronunciation and often study
on my own at home.”

Sinothando is one of the Lumanyano Primary School library’s
most regular customers, and shows no signs of slowing down. “Room to Read
provides us with very interesting and captivating books,” he says. “It now
takes me only a few days to finish reading a book because I am always curious to
read the following chapter!”

Reading has opened up a new world of imagination for
Sinothando—one that allows him to dream of a life beyond the squatter camp
where he currently lives. “Education is the only solution for me because I will
one day afford to buy a house with electricity, beautiful furniture, clothing
and a car for my family,” he says honestly.

In the future, Sinothando dreams of
becoming a social worker to help empower the children in his community to avoid
abuse, rape and other problems. “Without an education,” he says, “I cannot help
my community.”

Jan 02, 2013

Kim Anstatt Morton is a longtime Room to Read supporter and member of our global Board of Directors.

*****

In early December, I had the honor
of traveling to Vietnam's Mekong Delta to visit Room to Read's Literacy and
Gender Equality programs. Erin Ganju, Room to Read's CEO, our Vietnam team,
eleven other supporters and I gathered in Ho Chi Minh City at the superb Park
Hyatt Saigon. After delicious pho for breakfast (and some of the best
French pastries I have ever had), we forged our way through
the sea of motorcycles to the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh City
to visit three girls in our Girls Education program. Then we drove 5 hours
out into remote and poverty-stricken Can Tho Province,
where the Mekong River divides the land like fingers on a hand until it empties
into the East Sea (South China Sea).

Our group was here to see firsthand the
challenges facing these families and communities and how Room to Read's
programs over the last 11 years are making positive, measurable change in the
lives of children. As a Room to Read board member and longtime supporter,
I love tracking results and seeing impact numbers and am proud of the
efficiency and scale of Room to Read's work on paper, but nothing compares to
being in the field with the children and communities who benefit from our
programs. Below are two highlights from the trek and a few photos.

Visiting the students from our
Girls’ Education program in their homes is an emotional experience. You do
not leave the same as you came. Phuong—one of the girls I met on this trip—is a
strong and stoic 18 year old in 10th grade who has been supported by
Room to Read since 2009. We climbed on motorcycles and wound
along tiny paths over rickety bridges to get to her home in rural
Long An province (where Half the Sky was filmed).

Phuong’s father died when she was
four years old, and her mother passed a way after a boating accident a few
years ago, leaving Phuong as the head of her household of four, including her mentally
disabled sister and her sister's baby boy. In order to support her family, Phuong beads
slippers in her small frond-covered shack along a Mekong tributary.
She beads for eight hours aday, 5-6 days per week, making 10 pairs of slippers
every day. All this effort amounts to a meager income of around US$1.50/day.
But the amazing part about Phuong is that she refuses to drop out of school.

On top of all that work, Phuong
eagerly attends the afternoon shift of school and Room to Read's life
skills workshops. She says the trainings are her favorite part of the Girls’
Education program. Specifically, she pointed to the financial budgeting training
and explained how it helps her manage her household.

Phuong also loves learning and
practicing her communication skills so she can be "more confident and
raise [her] opinions". Phuong loves to run and wants to be a gym
teacher after going to University. When we asked how else Room to Read
could help her, Phuong graciously replied, "you are doing so
much, there is nothing else I need—Room to Read is a very positive part of
my life."

Each of the girls we visited in
their homes, like Phuong, are inspirational. Most notable was their extreme
confidence despite dire circumstances and their clear message that without Room
to Read (and in particular the life skills workshops we provide), they would
never imagine themselves as the literature prize-winning, confident, university
bound students they have become.

See more photos from the trip, including an exciting Reading Day celebration: